Heretofore, contactless IC labels having an IC chip and an antenna have been used for merchandise control at retail stores or rental stores. This merchandise control involves attaching the contactless IC label to a commodity to be managed which is used as an adherend, and reading/writing data stored in the IC chip using a dedicated data reading/writing device to thereby perform ingress/egress control, inventory control, loan control, and so forth of the commodities. Due to the IC chip, a commodity code as well as an abundant amount of information such as an arrival date and a manager can be integrally managed with the commodity. Particularly, as for article control, contactless IC labels using microwaves are frequently used because they have a long communication distance of 1 to 2 m compared to contactless IC labels using electrostatic coupling or electromagnetic induction.
Further, as the contactless IC label comes into wide use, it is expected to combine an optical variable device (hereinafter referred to as “OVD”) with the contactless IC label. OVD is a generic name of holograms or diffraction gratings that can represent a 3-dimensional image or a special decoration image using the interference of light, and multilayered thin films that cause the variation of a color depending on a viewing angle by superposing thin films having different optical characteristics. Since these OVDs make a special impression on the 3-dimensional image or the color variation, they have an excellent decorative effect, and thus are used for ordinary prints such as various packing materials or picture books, catalogs, and so forth. Furthermore, since the OVD requires advanced manufacturing technology, it is used as anti-counterfeit means for credit cards, securities, certified documents, and so forth.
When the above-described contactless IC label is combined with the OVD, a data reading/writing function of the contactless IC label is combined with an anti-counterfeit function or a decorative effect of the OVD. Thereby, it is possible to realize a higher level of anti-counterfeit effect, and to construct a label combining the anti-counterfeit effect or the decorative effect with a merchandise control function.
As one example, a contactless data transceiver is proposed in which a hologram is formed at a required position on a sheet metal having a conductive metal layer, and the conductive metal layer is used as an antenna pattern (e.g. see Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-42088